Obama school lunch debacle (Page 2)

You're correct.  I think my point was more that they broke a system that didn't need to be fixed.  Kids were all happy, parents were happy.  Now we have neither and the intent of forcing kids to eat healthier doesn't seem to be having the result they were hoping for.

47% of kids believe it's the schools responsibility to take care of them.

I get your point but you also see the irony in some people calling it a nanny state than complaining how the state/government is not feeding our kids enough right?

I already did this joke on page 1 Brad.... SMH.

My point is that is wasn't working before either. Usually at school my 2 lunches would be 2 big slices of some nasty Grade F pizza. That's not exactly a good thing.

I know what your saying as well but I say nanny state in the context of imposing/forcing kids to eat a certain way versus giving them choice.  The school supplies the lunch with the old and the new system so I don't think of it in a "the school should provide" type argument as much as I see it as a "the federal government is trying to impose" type of thing.

My kids have been taking their own lunches to school for years.  Both for the same reason - the school's food wasn't the greatest. It takes a little longer to get things ready in the morning, but they get to eat what, and as much, as they want.

A few years ago, my wife and I were called into my daughter's school and told that she could not bring a PB&J sandwich to eat, because it was a "peanut-free" school.  That didn't sit well with me.  My daughter was given the option of eating in the teacher's lounge, or outside (depending on weather).  She actually enjoyed that more.  As she said, "it's not as loud".

i'm on the fence on this one. 

i agree that schools should at least OFFER some decent quality food for kids to eat, but i don't think the schools should be the only ones to blame if a kid leaves school hungry.  i don't know what the new lunch menus consist of, but i doubt it only has fruit and iceburg lettuce on it.  i'd be interested to see the weekly menu if anyone is interested in posting it here.

i used to pack a lunch about 4 out of 5 days a week, all the way through high school.  i looked like a big dork with my little lunch sack when everyone else was standing in line for steak fingers and burgers, but i never left hungry, despite playing baseball and basketball for school every year.

to me, it seems like people's idea of what "hungry" feels like is changing. 

Yeah there are certainly good school lunches and not good school lunches.  My kids are fortunate enough to go to a school that had a very good lunch program with good food and gave kids a lot of choice.

If we feed our kids what we/they want though it doesn't really matter but for the parents that expect the school to feed their kids.

I hardly ever read your posts.

x2. It ranks up there with the signs saying "keep the government away from my medicare". 

when I was a kid, I always packed my lunch. Partly because I kept myself busy, with no study halls, and even a choir class scheduled over my lunch (I got permission to eat in the caf and then go into the class). 

My own kids never complained about the food at the school. They knew if they did not care for the choices, they could certainly pack something at home. It taught them to be responsible human beings - plan ahead and pack the night before if you don't want to get up early; or REALLY plan ahead and make a list for the grocery shopping of quick foods to bring along if you make a last minute call. Or be hungry. Unless you live at the poverty line (in which case, you should be eating breakfast and lunch provided at the school - you moocher/taker), you will not starve if you miss a meal. Eat when you come home. If you have activities after school, you should be planning to have some snack with you anyway.

But given the obesity epidemic in this country, providing meals that are unhealthy should not be coming from the government. If you choose to feed your child a deep fried twinkie sandwich with a side of ring dings, go for it, It's a free country. But it does not serve anyone's interest to have that come from the state. 

That's interesting I seem to wind up paying a whole lot of money for my kid to eat at school.  Maybe you don't, but I pay for that meal  I don't expect the school to "feed" my kid I expect them to have a decent selection from which to choose and a viable amount of calories for what I pay.  How is it a contradiction if one feels they are not getting a good value for what they pay for?

Than like any consumer you stop buying the subpar product. In this case you/he can make the food for his lunch where it would be cheaper and he would like what he gets.

And I complain about how the schools are behaving just like any other consumer.

That complaint in no way shape or form makes me a hypocrite as this thread has been intimating it means.  I am doing exactly what those who are vocal about Chick-filet being "bad" are doing.

I don't have kids and was home schooled. So question here... who pays for the lunch? Do parents have to pay for each lunch or just for extras? Are the meals subsidized by the school and the parents pick up a portion?

If the school is paying for the lunch that means I the taxpayer am paying for the lunch and I don't want to pay to make kids fat so I can pay for them to be disabled later. If I am paying I have no problem with only providing healthy choices.

But if the lunch is 100% paid for by the parents and my tax dollars pay none of it then yes it should be up to the kids/parents/customers and not the gubment. 

Oh. Snap.

Wait....we don't have time because our kids exercise so much.....this is all so confusing. 

How about just give my kids a decent selection of food to eat....I'll pay for it. 

Hey Tuwood....got any more grenades?? 

I think it's a combination.  At our school we pay for all the lunches.  We fund each kids' lunch account every week and their lunches generally cost around $5/ea. per day.

However, there are free and reduced lunch kids that do have their lunches subsidized/payed for by taxpayers.